Henry Patterson, the best-selling author of The Eagle Has Landed, has died aged 92, his publisher has said.HarperCollins said Patterson died at his Jersey home surrounded by family.
The Eagle Has Landed, about a Nazi plot to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill in World War Two and written using the pseudonym Jack Higgins, sold more than 50 million copies and became a film.Patterson sold more than 250 million books over his career, with his other works including Comes the Dark Stranger, Hell is Too Crowded and To Catch a King.
HarperCollins chief executive Charlie Redmayne described Patterson as a "classic thriller writer: instinctive, tough, relentless", adding his novels "were and remain absolutely unputdownable". Jonathan Lloyd, Patterson's literary agent, also paid tribute, saying: "I had the privilege of being at Collins Publishers when we received the manuscript of The Eagle Has Landed.Patterson is survived by four children from his first marriage - Sarah, Ruth, Sean, and Hannah - as well as his wife, Denise.
I would have ended up in a massive pub quiz row on this ‘cos I was 100% sure it was Alastair Maclean!
Have so many of his books, including Eagle has Landed, & they are 'unputdownable'. RIP HenryPatterson JackHiggins